Spanish workers hold an anti-austerity march in Madrid, March 23, 2012.

Spanish workers in the industrial sector have staged a demonstration in Madrid to protest against the government’s tough austerity measures amid mounting fears of the country’s economic meltdown.

The demonstrators staged a march in the capital on Friday to demand an end to the government’s cutbacks and labor reforms, which have slashed the cost of firing workers and eased conditions for dismissal.

They were carrying a banner reading “Address the crisis: More industry, more jobs, no to the labor reform.”

The protesters said the overhaul made by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government is unjustified because the measures fail to create jobs.

The Friday rally is seen as a test of support for a general strike called for March 29.

Spain has been grappling with a deepening economic recession that has left over five million people, almost 23 percent of the workforce in the country, unemployed.

Fears of the worsening of eurozone crisis have further been intensified by Madrid’s decision to revise its budget deficit targets for 2012.

Concerns are growing that Spain could be the next eurozone country to be heading for a bailout, with the government’s deficit target announced far higher than the 4.4 percent demanded by the European Union.